A 65-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly threatening former lawmaker “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung near the Admiralty MTR station.
Leung alleged that he was surrounded by a group of protesters wearing T-shirts with pro-police slogans when he exited the station to attend a protest outside the government headquarters on Tuesday.
The 61-year-old politician said some of the protesters shouted “kill Long Hair” at him and told others to “kill him.” He then sought help from police officers at the scene.
Police arrested a woman, surnamed Cheung, on suspicion of criminal intimidation later that evening.
The Cantonese phrase “kill” can also be interpreted as “knock down,” but a magistrate’s court adopted the former interpretation in the recent conviction of former University of Hong Kong student leader Billy Fung.
In that case, Fung was accused of criminally intimidating HKU Council chair Arthur Li when he shouted near Li: “Don’t let him go! Don’t let Arthur Li go! Kill him! Kill him!”
The magistrate acquitted Fung because he could not be sure that the words “kill him” – instead of “kill you” – were meant to alarm Li. However, Fung was convicted of disorderly conduct on the basis that the words were “meant to be a call to the crowd surrounding Li to stop him from leaving the scene by force.”
In a video taken by Leung, the woman said: “Billy Fung was not found guilty for saying ‘kill,’ so I was just saying what he said.”
“If this was a crime, Billy Fung would also be found guilty together [with me],” she added.
But Leung told Ming Pao that the case was different from Fung’s, as the woman repeatedly said “kill him” in his direction from a short distance. He said he was “obviously” targeted.
Three police officers were filmed standing between Leung and the protesters. They asked the protesters for identification documents after Leung repeatedly urged them to do so.
A police spokesperson told HKFP that Cheung was released on bail and is required to report to police in late August.
“Regardless of the background of the relevant parties, police will handle and investigate all cases fairly, impartially and in accordance with the established procedures,” they said.
